This week in the kitchen

Monday/5-Jul-21: Used some cooked lamb from the freezer to make a double dose of Eggplant Stuffed with Lamb, Red Pepper, and Rice (Tenth, p279). We had a smallish eggplant each, which was quite a lot, with a bit of arugula salad with walnuts and feta. Some chocolate-covered madeleines for after. This was a packet of double-chocolate ones, with chocolate cake instead of vanilla. Not an intentional purchase, but not bad.

Tuesday/6-Jul-21: I had lunch out after BookChatters, expecting to have eat from the salad bar. But the salad bar was missing, Covid perhaps? So I had a plat+dessert, and no room for any more food. Ed got a nice leftover from the freezer.

Wednesday/7-Jul-21: Dinner was a halfish dose of Pasta with Tomato, Fennel Seeds and Anchovies (web). This was good, with not too much fennel. Some double-chocolate madeleines for after.

Thursday/8-Jul-21: Shopping today. It seems the store is less crowded on Thursday than on Wednesday. The boulangerie is open too. We may change our default shopping day. 

Dinner was Zucchini Noodles with Spicy Peanut Sauce (web). This was yummy, but can't the zoodles made it any kind of special. I think the sauce with rice noodles would have been better. For the protein, salmon was good, but it would work with shrimp or even chicken or pork. To try again, I think. Store-bought egg custards with caramel for after.

Friday/9-Jul-21: Out to the boulangerie (for bread and creampuffs for dessert) and the boucherie (for a piece of meat for Monday's dinner this afternoon.

Dinner was Stuffed Zucchini (Delightful, p62; cookbooker). This was pretty good. Recipe was supposed to serve 2-3, but will serve four; one zuke in the freezer. Served with my standard Thai Cucumber Salad with Peanuts (web; GD; HB) and plain basmati rice. Altogether pretty good. Creampuffs for dessert.

Put the meat for Monday's meal on to marinate. Yes, three days marinating was asked.

Saturday/10-Jul-21: We had a bunch of tomatoes sitting around needing to be used, so I made a batch of Hazan's famous Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter (ClassicItal, p152). 

We ate lunch so late that at dinner time neither of us was really hungry. I got a packet of capelletti with jambon cru from the freezer and topped those with some of the newly made tomato sauce plus a splash of cream. Some store-bought chocolate-covered madeleines for after. 

Now to adjust the meal plan. 

Sunday/11-Jul-21: Dinner was Runner Bean Tortilla with Tomato Salad (web; GD; GD). This was very good and satisfying. The tomato salad was good too. For dessert, we finished the lemon sherbet with an apricot.

Another week without a picture. Too bad.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 PHOTO: no; #3 *DMA: no
This month: #4 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG1: yes; #6 BACKLOG2: no; #7 RECYCLE: 11; #8 NEW: 4

This week in the kitchen

Monday/17-May-21: Another loaf of Easy French bread (Electric, p62) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-) today. Yes, we like this delicious bread.

Dinner was Creamy Garlic Pasta with Shrimp & Vegetables* (web; GD). Very tasty sauce; it just needs the shrimp put in after the veggies so they don't get overcooked. For dessert there was Box of Dreams Cake (BigBites, p252). This a pudding cake. Quite yummy. 

Tuesday/18-May-21: Dinner was Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Chili Sauce* (web; web; GD). Seriously yummy, not to mention easy. I use some pork rub I made a while ago, rather than the chili powder and other spices. As a go-with there was Green Bean, Feta, and Black Olive Salad* (web; CL/nov10; GD), using up the last of my bulgur. This delicious salad could be a veggie main. It would also be good for a potluck meal. And, guess what, some pudding cake for after.

Wednesday/19-May-21: Ed off to the doctor for a test today. When we got back I placed what I hope will be our last Drive orders for a while. Next week we'll brave the grocery store.

Dinner was Chiles Rellenos Casserole (CL90, p147). I've made this a bunch of times, lately adding a bit of chile powder to the cornmeal mixture. It's pretty good even though the poblanos are canned. Served with a batch of my take on my mother's Spanish Rice. And a nice little salad/salsa of tomatoes, avocado, shallots, cilantro, olive oil, and lime juice, with some chili powder. Neither of us felt like pudding cake tonight, but I did have a square of chocolate.

Thursday/20-May-21: Ed picked up orders from both Drives today. Next week our vaccinated selves hope to get back to grocery store-ing. However the covid numbers took a little rise, apparently with the Ascension Day weekend. No telling what will happen with déconfinement and this holiday weekend.

Make another loaf of Easy French bread (Electric, p62) (Rapid/Basic/M/d/-), this time with 1 cup of T110, light whole wheat. Loaf looks nice, but we won't cut it till tomorrow. 

Dinner was Sheet-Pan Salmon and Broccoli with Sesame and Ginger (web), easy and fast, Oriental-ish flavors. Served with some udon noodles (wheat and rice). We finished the pudding cake for after. 

Friday/21-May-21: Dinner was a half dose of Scallops & Spring Vegetables with Olive-Caper Pan Sauce (web). This was pretty good, but there was no way the veggies could get done in two minutes of sautéing. Served with some spaghettis courts, which was good for sopping up the sauce. Some store-bought vanilla yogurts for after.

Saturday/22-May-21: Yogurt on overday.

For dinner we had leftover Chiles Rellenos Casserole. I cooked up a bit more rice, with some chili powder, to add to the Spanish rice. I beefed up the rest of the salad salsa with another avocado, more cilantro, lime juice, and chili powder. 

Meanwhile, in preparation for tomorrow's meal, I made Marinated Carrot Sticks (ClassicItal, p56) and Fresh Ricotta Cheese and Limoncello Cake (web). This looks promising; we'll see tomorrow. (The recipe doesn't specify how big the bundt pan should be. I used my larger one, the smaller would proabably have been better. I cut back sugar to 1 cup. Probably half the glaze would have been sufficient.)

Sunday/23-May-21: We bought our plat only, vaguely Italian, from a local ferme-auberge. We started with a plate with Hard-Boiled Eggs with Green Sauce (ClassicItal, p52), that I made this morning, and Marinated Carrot Sticks, that I made yesterday. Both were good. 

Then with had saltimbocca, made of chicken breast, lined with ham, mozzarella, and basil leaves. Served with what might have been home-made tagliatelle with pesto. 

And Fresh Ricotta Cheese and Limoncello Cake, very yummy.

Made another loaf of Easy French bread (Electric, p62) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-). All T65 flour. 

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 PHOTO: yes; #3 *DMA: yes
This month: #4 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG1: yes; #6 BACKLOG2: no; #7 RECYCLE: 11; #8 NEW: 4

This week in the kitchen

Monday/12-Apr-21: Baked the Overnight Boule this morning.

Dinner was a half dose of Spicy Eggplant Stew with Potatoes, Mushrooms, and Chickpeas (WorldVeg, p196) served over brown rice. A half recipe, but all the spices and a bit short on salt, as is normal for Jaffrey's recipes. Some pear cake with cream for after.

Tuesday/13-Apr-21: Dinner was a halfish dose of Veal Scaloppine with Marsala (ClassicItal, p361). This was easy and good. Served with smashed potatoes and steamed veggies, cleaning out the fridge, asparagus, haricots verts, and broccoli stems. 

We both had a chocolate itch, so we had chocolate-covered madeleines for after. 

Wednesday/14-Apr-21: Dinner was a half recipe of Baked Salmon with Cucumber Relish* (web). Pretty tasty, although the cucumber relish needed salad. I tossed the red onions and dill with the relish. Served with a side of whole-wheat spaghetti. It was good. We're full, having had leftovers for lunch after Ed brought back groceries from two Drives.

Thursday/15-Apr-21: Easy dinner tonight. We ate (most of) the Simple Beef Curry I made last week. Served over plain basmati rice, with Cachumber—Tomato, Onion and Green Coriander Relish (MJ1, p172) as a side/relish. Some store-bought vanilla yogurts for after.

Friday/16-Apr-21: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Drunken Shrimp (web). Served over a bit of pasta. Not bad, not great. Followed by a bit salad. No dessert needed.

Saturday/17-Apr-21: Made up a half recipe of Red Pepper Sauce (Flavours, p11) for tomorrow's dinner.

Dinner was Thai Red Chicken Curry (web). This was pretty good. Recipe needs a bit of work: Way too much rice for two; I used 2/3cup but thought that was too much. Too much liquid; would match the 200ml packet of coconut mild with the chicken stock. We also thought it could have used 4tsp of red curry paste, rather than 2or 3, to be just the right heat. The recipe encourages you to use vegetable as available. I had green beans, so used those in place of the zucchini. Didn't have any basil, which might have been nice. Followed by Thai Cucumber Salad with Peanuts (web), which is a favorite. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Sunday/18-Apr-21: For breakfast we split Manny's Lemon "Pancake" (CtryCityEgg, p85). This was like a Dutch baby, topped with lemon juice and a bit of powdered sugar.

Made a loaf of Dennis's Blarney-Stone Bread (Magic, p70) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-) this morning. It's a funny misshapen loaf. Curious how it will be when we cut into it.

Started to make the gnocchi for the sauce I made yesterday, but just didn't feel like it. Instead I used mafalda for the pasta and mixed a bit of the Roquefort that should have been in the gnocchi into the drained pasta. It was okay, nothing special. Then a big salad. Then a part of chocolate-covered madeleines. 

Seem to have decided on two more books to recycle, CtryCityEgg and Flavours (after copying a few recipes). The egg book is attractive, but not enough interesting recipes. Flavours should have been good, but most of the recipes I've tried have been decidedly so-so. Need to reduce.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 PHOTO: yes; #3 *DMA: yes    
This month: #4 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG1: no; #6 BACKLOG2: no; #7 RECYCLE: 1; #8 NEW: 3

This week in the kitchen

Monday/1-Mar-21: Yogurt on overday.

Another dish for the Facebook Cooking Marcella Hazan group, dinner was a Risotto with Red Cabbage and Pancetta (MarCuc, p224). Not the prettiest risotto, but quite tasty. Served with a salad. A pair of chocolated-covered madeleines each for after.

Overnight Boule on overnight.

Tuesday/2-Mar-21: Ed baked off the Overnight Boule while I met with my BookChatters group this morning. 

Dinner was Syrian Lentil-Tomato Soup from the freezer. And Baguette Sandwiches with Asparagus* (web; GD). A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Wednesday/3-Mar-21: Picked up our shopping from both Drives today.

Dinner was a half recipe of Grilled Salmon (web) . I cooked this under the broiler. Pretty good it was for minimal effort. At the market last Thursday, I scored some snijbonen. I turned up three interesting recipes from Allerhande. The one we had tonight was Snijbonen en Cashewnoten uit de Wok (web). Chunks of snijbonen (I boiled them about 4min first), finished in the wok, then warmed in hoisin. With some cashews on top. Pretty tasty. And some plain rice. Some store-bought yogurt with blackberries and blueberries for after.

Thursday/4-Mar-21: Dinner was Chipotle Shrimp Coleslaw* (web; GD). Still good, but would be better in hot weather. Served with avocado slices and corn tortillas. Some store-bought yogurt with salted caramel for after.

Overnight Boule on overnight, bread flour and light whole wheat.

Friday/5-Mar-21: Baked off the overnight Boule this morning. Not knowing the difference, Ed said he preferred this one. I guess I'll use up my rye flour and continue with the light whole wheat. Might try that half and half with regular bread flour.

Dinner was Riso e Fagioi—Rice and Bean Soup (ClassicItal, p102; rice variation, p104). I made the Pasta and Bean Soup variation for Cooking Italy a while ago. I thought I got the same kind of meat, but it wasn't; hard to tell what you're going to get when you order at the Drive. 

Some store-bought yogurt with chestnut cream for after. 

Saturday/6-Mar-21: Dinner was Turkey Cutlets, Lemon-Soy Glaze (web). This was okay. I added a bit too much lemon juice to the marinade/sauce (couldn't let the rest of that half lemon go to waste), but we didn't think that was all. Served over trio rice. Then an old favorite, Cold Beetroot with Cream (Pomiane, p180). Store-bought yogurt with Madagascar vanilla for after.

Sunday/7-Mar-21: I sort of had the idea to make pasta today, but that didn't work. One of these days, maybe. Instead we had whole wheat spaghetti  with Greek Shrimp (PastaMach, p136). Then a big salad. Then some store-bought yogurts with blueberries and blackberries.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 PHOTO: yes; #3 *DMA: yes
This month: #4 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG1: yes; #6 BACKLOG2: no; #7 RECYCLE: 11; #8 NEW: 2

This week in the kitchen

Monday/15-Feb-21: Dinner was a half dose of Sheet-Pan Chicken Thighs with Potatoes, Fennel, and Mustard-Beer Sauce (web). Good stuff. Ed declared it a 5* recipe. I didn't cook in a sheet-pan but in a cast iron skillet where everything fit. The skin was crispy. The sauce delicious. We saved the rest of the sauce for our lunch sandwiches. 

Then a salad. Some store-bought vanilla riz au laits for after. Should have made bread this afternoon, or at least started an Overnight Boule. but didn't feel like it.

Tuesday/16-Feb-21: We took three boxes of books to a charity shop today. Small reduction in the household supply of books. I keep on working at this. 

Dinner was late, Winter's Warmest Pork Loin (Desperation, p254). Served with polenta and steamed broccoli. Not realizing how little time the cook had for other activities while cooking the pork, I started the broccoli too late, so the meat cooked at bit to long. This was an interesting idea, but neither of us were excited by it. Some mini ice cream cups for after. 

Started an Overnight Boule with Rye.

Wednesday/17-Feb-21: Baked the Overnight Boule with Rye. It's good.

For dinner, I made a fish pie, loosely following this recipe, but using small shrimp, small scallops, some squid rings, and some smoked trout for the fishy bits in the filling. Instead of puff pastry for the topping, I used wadded up disks of brik/brick/brique. It was pretty good, if a bit salty from the trout. A salad after. Then some bits of St. Nectaire.

Thursday/18-Feb-21: Picked up groceries from Intermarché, so it was fish-for-dinner.

We had Spicy Salmon and Couscous Bowls (web), that's with Israeli couscous and turnips. Pretty good stuff. Served with a simple Thai-ish salad, loosely based on Cucumber Salad—Yaam Taeng Kwa (Delightful, p51). This recipe calls for way too much sugar; I wonder if they wrote tablespoon when they meant teaspoon? It was pretty good as I made it. 

Friday/19-Feb-21: Dinner was Risotto with Sausages (ClassItal, p257). (This is for the rice theme on Cooking Marcella Hazan, a Facebook group that's trying to revive itself.) Rather than pork sausages, I used some andouillettes de canard from the freezer (impulse buy), and thus, used chicken stock rather than beef stock. 

Followed by a big salad. No dessert needed. 

Saturday/20-Feb-21: The bread machine made a loaf today after Ed first the gear in the pan again. There was Light Rye (Electric, p64) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-). Skipped the caraway seeds, but added 1tbl of gluten; 2tbl+1tsp of sucre de canne. Good stuff.

Dinner was Bangkok Shrimp* (web). The recipe is really Bangkok Beef; I use shrimp instead, adding the (cooked, almost unfrozen) shrimp when the veggies were done. Some some store-bought vanilla riz au laits for later.

Sunday/21-Feb-21: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Marinated Lamb Chops (web; CL/apr11). This was easy and good. Served with Eggplant with Pomegranate Sauce (EastMed, p155), sort of. I cut my eggplant ovals into long half-ellipses. Sprayed with olive oil and broiled rather than baking. And some potatoes: I peeled and chunked them, then boiled almost done; drained well; shook in the sieve, then finished in butter and olive oil. Pretty good they were. Some Angel Kisses (cream and crème de cacao) for after.

Overnight Boule with Rye on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 PHOTO: yes; #3 *DMA: yes
This month: #4 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG1: yes; #6 BACKLOG2: yes; #7 RECYCLE: 9; #8 NEW: 2

This week in the kitchen

Monday/24-Aug-20: Made a loaf of English Muffin Bread (BMB, p17) this morning. Good stuff.

Leftover pizza for dinner. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/25-Aug-20: Started Crock Pot Picadillo (web). I had 700g of 5% ground beef, so made about a 2/3 recipe. Pretty good stuff. I didn't serve over brown rice as suggested, but with corn tortillas (now that I've found some good mail-order ones). And a side of guacamole. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each later.

Wednesday/26-Aug-20: Dinner was about a third of Ayam Masak Rose—Braised Chicken and Peas in a Coconut-and-Chili Sauce (TLPacSea, p61), using four thighs. This was really good. The meat is not browned, which I found a surprise. I think I would take the skin off before cooking; I did remove it before serving. Served over basmati rice. Ed said it's a 5-star dish.

Served with our favorite Thai Cucumber Salad with Peanuts (web). I got the chili out of the freezer, but forgot to cut it up, so the salad was quite soothing after the chicken dish.

Thursday/27-Aug-20: Made the 1-3/4-2# loaf of Classic Whole Wheat Bread (BigGerman, p81) (WW/Rapid/L/-/-). That was a seriously big loaf. I expect the 1-1/2# loaf will still be big. Tasty.

Made a batch of Mango Plum Jam (SmallBatch, p51; cookbooker). Used only 2 cups sucre de confiture, which was a good amount tastewise, even though it's a bit runny.

Dinner was Carrot and Coriander Soup (Fancy, p39). Delicious. A whole recipe served two as a dinner soup. Would be a nice soup in small cups as a starter.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/28-Aug-20: Finished reading Pure&Simple last night. Wasn't very impressed. Have marked a few recipes to try. There are lots of ingredients, primarily veggies, that aren't available here and I don't recall seeing them in NL. Oh well.

Pick up an order at Intermarché today. I ordered carrots when we didn't need any. Maybe we'll have lots and lots of Carrot and Coriander Soup.

Dinner was Asian Grilled Salmon (web), on the bbq. This was easy, fast, and tasty. Served with trio rice and Chinese Eggplant with Garlic Sauce (web). I used most of the white eggplants from the potager. (Bought by mistake, these are much better the the tiny white "ur" eggplants which are very bitter). Having no black vinegar right now, I used malt vinegar, which seemed to work quite well. Anyhow, this was tingly and tasty. We're full.

Saturday/29-Aug-20: Made a batch of Marcella Hazan's famous Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter (ClassicItal, p152) from my over-bought stash of grappe tomate. Soon I need to start making sauce (passata, I think) from the tomatoes from the potager.

Dinner was Indonesian Beef Satay (Wolfert, p72). The bbq chef burnt one side so the meat was pretty overcooked. No pindasaus, since neither of us especially like it. Difficult to say much more about it. Used some green beans to make a halfish recipe of Tumi Buncis (SriOwen, p195). Pretty good, although my beans were a bit old. Dressed up the remains of yesterday's eggplant sort of like Gorentg Terong—Fried Aubergines (SriOwen, p192). Worked pretty good. And some basmati rice. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Sunday/30-Aug-20: Took a load of stuff off to a charity shop today. Ed managed to lose one of his hearing aids along the way!

Dinner was a halfish dose of Garlic, Caper & Lemon Linguine (magazine clipping from Jamie, I guess; scanned). Easy and tasty. For a side, I sliced up one of our home-grown tomatoes, topped with a bit of olive oil, S&P, and torn basil. Yum. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

I'm reading my next cookbook at night right now. This works because it's a rather small book. Won't be handy at all for a bigger one. Will have to find another solution for cookbook reading.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 BACKLOG: no
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #4 SHORT: no; #5 LONG: no
On-going: #6 READ; #7 RECYCLE; #8 NEW

This week in the kitchen

Monday/15-Jun-20: Leftover tart for dinner. Should have been a salad, but I didn’t feel like it. Mini Häagen-Dazs ice cream cups for after. Later some bread with terrine de canard.

Started the dough for Susan Dunaway's No-Knead bread, using 3 cups T65 and 1 cups T110 flours.


Tuesday/16-Jun-20: Baked the bread in the morning. And it came right out of the pot. Yay.

First time we've been in the car together is several months. Today we both went to pick up an order from Leclerc Drive and then on to Brico Leclerc to do some shopping. Inside. Lots of people unmasked. The check-out people are protected, but hand-cleaning stuff is not to be found.

Finished Bishop on the way there. I was surprised how much I'd already used the book. Seems I used it a number of times before we moved here. I'll try some more of them before too long. The book is aimed at vegetarian family cooking, nothing too fancy, and realizing that time is short.

Hard-boiled/steamed four eggs.

Dinner was Curried Cauliflower Bisque (from the freezer) with tuna sandwiches. Too bad I didn't freeze the soup in smaller containers. We were full.

Think I should have started some bread this evening, but was too lazy.

Wednesday/17-Jun-20: Dinner was Beef or Lamb Jhal Faraizi (MJ@Home, p137), the whole recipe, for dinner. It tastes like an Inidan hash, but apparently it's often a breakfast dish with eggs. I thought briefly about adding some eggs for the last minutes of cooking, but thought we had enough protein. I used cooked lamb from the freezer. Served with Salaad (MJ@Home, p235), a nice salad I've made before. Some mini ice cream cups soothed the tongue after.

Yogurt on overnight. Realized later I should have started a bowlful of Dunaway's bread.

Thursday/18-Jun-20: During the day, I made some Old-Fashioned Buttermilk White Bread (MC). (I found some dried buttermilk, not Saco, at Amazon, so I'm trying buttermilk recipes.)

Ed picked an order from Intermarché Drive today. The bit of fish was quite large, so we'll have it twice with smallish portions. Dinner tonight was Salmon with Curried Yogurt & Cucumber Salad (web; EW/jul-aug19; cookbooker). I made all of the salad and sauce with half the salmon. For afters we had some nonettes that I bought on spec; they're little honey-drenched spice cakes filled with cassis jam. They weren't bad. Some buttermilk bread for after-afters.

Friday/19-Jun-20: Tonight's dinner was Salmon with Fennel & Sun-Dried Tomato Couscous (web; EW/jan-feb18). I didn't read this recipe closely enough when I chose it, thinking only that it would use up some oven-dried tomatoes from the freezer. Oops, it wants sun-dried tomato pesto. Off to the web. I found sun-dried tomato pesto with and without basil. Not having a superfluity of basil, I chose the one without and made a very loose, cut-back version. Neither of us are big fennel fans, but this was pretty good. We finished the nonettes (two each) for after.

I've chosen Mittal's Pure&Simple for my next cookbook to read. I'm not sure what prompted me to buy this and I haven't used it at all. Since my space allocated to Indian-ish cookbooks is over full, I'm trying to look at any relatively unused books here to see if I really need them. This one has lots of pictures and no index, so it's off to a bad start. We'll see.

Saturday/20-Jun-20: Dinner was a half recipe of Zucchini Ripieni—Stuffed Zucchini Baked in Tomato Sauce (TLItal, p41).

For the tomato sauce I made a hybrid of Marcella Hazzan's famous Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter (ClassicItal, p152) and Salsa Pizaiola—Tomato and Garlic Sauce (TLItal, p43); I started with Hazan, then, noticing the recipe in TLItal, added a garlic clove (stuck on a toothpick for easy retrieval), oregano, basil, and bayleaf. For dessert we had some Häagen-Dazs mango sorbet that I impulse-bought. (Yes, you can do that shopping online too.)

Started a batch of Susan Dunaway's No-Knead Bread to bake tomorrow morning.

Sunday/21-Jun-20: Recycled a couple of rarely used cookbooks today. I'm really going to have to hustle now to meet my goal for the year.

Dinner was a half dose of Salade de Lentilles à la Fourme d'Ambert (web; Règal), served over some mixed lettuces. This should have served three, so the two of us were quite full. It was good.

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 5; #2 BACKLOG: yes
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #4 SHORT: no; #5 LONG: no
On-going: #6 READ; #7 RECYCLE; #8 NEW

This week in the kitchen

Monday/24-Feb-20: Yesterday afternoon, I started the batter for a no-knead bread that I got from an EAT-L friend. The recipe is slightly different from Lahey's classic, and it's still a puddle bread, but the timing works better for me. This morning I put the oven and casserole on the heat, then dumped the bread and formed a (flat) ball. After 30 minutes, into the oven to cook, 30 minutes covered and 15 minutes uncovered. I used T110 flour which is a close relative of whole wheat flour (T150). Not sure of the difference, but it's definitely a brown bread, with not much rise. Very tasty though and I like the schedule.

For dinner we had skinless, boneless chicken thighs, sprinkled with Penzey's Quebec Spice mix (a bit too salty) and grilled under the broiler. Then some "short spaghetti" with garlic butter and some snijbonen. Then some Häagen-Dazs mini ice cream cups for dessert.

Tuesday/25-Feb-20: Ed went off to the dentist this afternoon and came back saying he had to have mushy, cool food for dinner. So no magret, that was planned. I did a quick shuffle of the meal plan and we had a half recipe of Curried Lentils with Coconut Milk (web; cookbooker). This was easy and extra delicious; no hot stuff, but full of taste. Then we had some Abondance. Then a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each.

Yogurt on overnight.

Wednesday/26-Feb-20: Nice dinner tonight. There was Magret de Canard à la Sauce Rose (web). I used Patricia Wells method for cooking the magret, which is the best. In the afternoon, I boiled some potatoes, then sautéed them in the rendered duck fat. There were also some steamed carrot coins, with parsley and lemon juice, and a little salad of grated broccoli stems, which was really good. In the afternoon, I made a half recipe of an Easy Blueberry Cobbler (MC) that wasn't bad. We ate well.

Thursday/2Feb-20: As we were leaving to do our weekly grocery shopping, I reached for RezaSpice and couldn't find it. Instead, having recently felt the need for some more interesting vegetarian meals, I grabbed A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen, by Jack Bishop. It turns out I've used this a bit, but not recently. Nevertheless, I've found quite a number of interesting recipes so far.

Dinner was Baked Fish with Kumquats and Ginger (Uncommon, p273), with salmon. I've made this a few times and since kumquats have been at Leclerc for the last few weeks, I thought it was time again. Served with some "short spaghetti" and steamed asparagus. The rest of the blueberry cobbler for after.

Friday/28-Feb-20: Early in the day, I made up a batch of Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter (ClassicItal, p152). At dinner time I made Spinach and Ricotta Dumplings (web). I made up a full recipe have frozen half, along with a goodly chunk of the tomato sauce. I used really parmesan, of course. Also, had to add at least double the amount of flour to get something that would hold together into a "dumpling." Served with a big salad. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Saturday/29-Feb-20: Dinner was Ooroomas Badun—Fried Pork Curry (Solomon1, p138. This was yummy. Served with basmati rice and Gujerati Carrot Salad (MJ1, p170). For munchies we had Spicy Cucumber Wedges (MJ1, p172. For dessert, there was Faux Kheer of store-bought riz au lait, topped with chopped pistachios and ground cardamom.We're full.

Yogurt on overnight.

Sunday/1-Mar-20: Dinner was Lex's Roast Chicken (MC; web). I used two dejeunettes (half baguettes for the bread. The cuisinart did a good job for the sliced onions and celery. Yum. Served with a salad, using up the rest of yesterday's carrot salad. And some chocolate-covered madeleines for dessert.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 BACKLOG: no
This month: #3 GUESTS: no for February, no for March
This year: #4 SHORT: no; #5 LONG: no
On-going: #6 READ; #7 RECYCLE; #8 NEW

This week in the kitchen

Monday/23-Sep-19: Dinner was Stir-Fried Lemon Chicken (web). This was okay. Served over brown rice. A simple salad afterwards, made from the rest of the sucrines (baby romaines) that I had. Some chocolate-covered corn flakes for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/24-Sep-19: Spent a good part of the day cleaning up mouse poop in the Ivars. Haven't figured out what it's found to eating, especially since most stuff on the open shelves is in glass, plastic, or metal now. Cleaned all but the top two shelves all the way across.

This morning I fried up strips of tortillas leftover from the other night and made something sort of like migas, with scrambled eggs and a fresh tomato salsa. An Indian egg curry was on the plan for tonight's dinner, so I changed. Instead we had Chicken Broccoli Skillet (web) served over tagliatelle. Instead of skinless, boneless chicken thighs, I used turkey oysters (sot-l'y-laisse en français). We ate most of what would probably be three servings, rather than 4-6. Using the larger amount of broccoli is probably better. Chocolate-covered corn flakes for after.

Wednesday/25-Sep-19: Lunch out today with Andy and Sue. Nothing further happened in the kitchen.

Thursday/26-Sep-19: Dinner was Dierdre’s Egg Curry, recipe I got from an EAT-L friend. Unfortunately I didn’t follow the directions very well, but it was still good. Over basmati rice. Meant to make one of Madhur Jaffrey’s carrot saladsm as a go-with, got out the book, and lost the thread. That’s ok. We’re full.

Friday/27-Sep-19: Shopping today.

Dinner was Salmon with Sweet Pea Cream (CL/apr07; web). I just see that I forgot to add the cream to the sweet pea cream. I didn't think it mattered, Ed thought it would have been better. I didn't sieve the pea cream, but buzzed till it was really smooth. I think the peas would have been better with seared scallops, which would better match the sweetness. Or not. Served with pasta. We had some store-bought chocolate mousses for after.

Guess I'm going to skip another month of my cookbook of the month. Barely interested in cooking these days. Feeling really trapped in the Neighbor-from-Hell situation. No way we could sell this house now. No way we could afford anything similar. No resolution in sight, only legal action that will take a lot of time and achieve nothing really. Sigh.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/28-Sep-19: In the morning I used some old bananas to make a loaf of Buttermilk Banana Bread (web). I cut the sugar back to 1cup and used walnuts instead of pecans. Yum.

Dinner was Almond-Crusted Chicken Breasts (MC), a old favorite I haven't made in a long time. Served with multi-colored carrots and some trio rice. Then some ice cream. Then some more banana bread.

Sunday/29-Sep-19: Cantique had a concert today so we were home late for our meal.

I had ten dates left from something, so made a half recipe of Alton Brown's Blue Cheese Bacon Devils on Horseback (web). These were okay, but don't need to do them again.

For our meal we had linguine with Marcella Hazan's (famous) Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter (ClassicItal, p152). Used a can of tomatoes, supposedly deseeded. Have a bit of sauce left to use for something else soon. Then there was Cold Beetroot with Cream (Pomiane, p180), which is an old favorite.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 3; #3 COOKBOOK: n/a
Cookbooks of the month: none
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: yes
This year: #7 PROJECT: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/9-Sep-19: A busy day today, and another trip to the gendarmerie.

Dinner was a half recipe, more or less, of Frittata with Tomato, Onion, and Basil (ClassItal, p281). Took a bit of time, but was tasty. Then a salad. Then some ice cream, a bar for Ed, a cup for me.

Tuesday/10-Sep-19: Using up the freezer inventory, we had half recipe of Chicken Baked in Yogurt with Red Onion and Grape Leaves (O&C, p412), using a spatchcocked pintade. Served with Bulgur Pilaf (O&C, p231), using chicken stock for the liquid, and Roasted Sweet Pepper Salad (O&C, p39), which was pretty good. Would be nice as part of an assortment of salads. Chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Wednesday/11-Sep-19: Dinner was, more or less, Sausage & Broccoli Orecchiette (web). Homemade sausage from the freezer. Can't say I really followed this badly written recipe. Used about half an onion. Used mafalda instead of orecchiette, which I don't much like. Partly cooked the broccoli in the pasta water before adding it to the sausage-onion-garlic mixture. No demi glacé; used my chicken stock which is pretty condensed. Very tasty. Squares of chocolate for after.

Thursday/12-Sep-19: Shopping today, and, oops, tuna was on sale, so I tossed the plan and bought some of that.

Dinner was, then, Charmoula-Marinated Grilled Tuna (MedHot, p48), accompanied by Lemon-Roasted Potatoes with Bay Leaves (VegHarv, p231; cookbooker). Also had a zucchini salad, vaguely crossing the Wells' recipe for Zucchini Carpaccio with Avocado, Lemon Thyme, and Pistachio (VegHarv, p214) and a recipe for Zucchini Ribbons with Lemon and Pecorino (CL/may14, web), that turned out well. Then a bit of Petit Basque cheese. And some chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/13-Sep-19: Clearing out the freezer again today. I finished cooking the Spice-Crusted Pork Tenderloin left from Patrice&Wim's visit. Served with some smashed sweet potatoes and a sauté of broccoli, mushroom, and oven-dried tomatoes. Then some Double Boiler Bread Pudding (MC, HandyBook)

Saturday/14-Sep-19: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Greek Tortellini Salad with Avocados and Cucumbers (web). This was okay, but pretty boring. I see the same site has a similar recipe that includes tomatoes, red bell pepper, black olives, and red onion. That's probably much better. Then we finished the bread pudding. We're full.

Sunday/15-Sep-19: Lunch out today. No more food needed.

In anticipation of tomorrow's dinner, I made some Carrot-and-Ginger Quickie Pickle (Scraps, p82).

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 3; #3 COOKBOOK: n/a
Cookbooks of the month: none
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: no
This year: #7 PROJECT: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/5-Feb-18: Using up the second half of a butternut squash, our meal was Butternut Squash Soup (SlowItal, p19). Since I've got an old crockpot with lower temperatures and I'm sure this book is meant for the newer, hotter cooking ones, I cooked the soup about 4 hours on High (rather than Low). Then zapped with my immersion blender and served with croutons from the freezer. Pretty good stuff.

Served with a salad made from two of the mini-romaines I bought last week, topped with the remaining Cauli Thai Salad from last week. That worked really well, we thought, a nice spicy salad.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/6-Feb-18: Leftover broccoli gratin for dinner. Made some Easy Berry Cobbler (HandyBook) with frozen blueberries for dessert. Topped with crème anglaise I bought for something last week and then didn't use.

Wednesday/7-Feb-18: We dragged ourselves off shopping today. Leclerc had half cabbages for sale today. I bought one to give them some encouragement.

For our meal, we had Baked Honey Sriracha Lime Salmon (web), which was easy and yummy. Served with basmati rice and Spicy Stir-Fried Cabbage (web). Mini ice cream bars for dessert. We ate well.

Thursday/8-Feb-18: We had our meal late today. It was a half recipe of Garlicky Shrimp Pasta (web). Good stuff it was—lots of garlic to help fend off whatever bug has us both down. Then a bit salad. Then the rest of the Blueberry Cobbler with crème anglaise.

Yogurt on overnight, with a new starter since the last batches have had an odd cottage cheese-y-ness on the top.

Friday/9-Feb-18: Today we had Smoky Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Sweet Potatoes (web). The meat was yummy (the two of us ate what was supposed to serve four), but the sauce for the sweet potatoes was too sweet even though I reduced the sugar substantially. Served with Roasted Zucchini (web), which was good, but the Italian spice didn't really go with the pork. Of course the spices can be changed. I'll try to keep this in mind when a zucchini side dish is needed. For dessert we had 2-1/2 chocolate truffles each.

Saturday/10-Feb-18: Our meal was Rice with Black Pepper Sauce (Savory, p253), very tasty, easy, and fast. Served with a salad. Then used some of the smashed bananas from the freezer to make Best Banana Bread (HandyBook).

Sunday/11-Feb-18: Cath came for a meal today. I'd already planned the meal, so she just joined in, bringing a yummy dessert.

We started with Roasted Eggplant with Peppers and Cucumber (ClassicItal, p55), a tried-and-true salad. For our main, there was Spiced Beef Stew (SlowItal, p146) served over polenta. This was good, not spicy-hot, but spicy with cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. It's really the kind of thing you'd do with venison, but it's good with beef also. And cheaper. Forgot to take a picture.

Cath's dessert was Italian Sultana and Ricotta Torte (web)

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 5; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: SlowItal
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: yes
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This week in the kitchen

Monday/26-Dec-16: Picked the leftover chicken, then froze the bones and the meat.

Didn't really feel like a fancy meal today, but we had one anyway. For a starter there was the terrine de pigenneau (squab) that we got at the marché de noël. Put a bit of arugula on the plate, topped with a vinaigrette, then some dried cranberries and walnut pieces. This was all very good. The main was veal marsala, broccoli alla romana, and the last of some nettle pasta I bought at a marché gourmand. Dessert was pears with gorgonzola. All tasted good.

Tuesday/27-Dec-16: Early dinner with a mix of leftovers. Shepherd's pie, the cauliflower curry, and a dab of orzo. The shepherd's pie held up quite well. And a slice of raspberry bûche to end it all.

Wednesday/28-Dec-16: Shopping today. Still disliking new Leclerc arrangement/design. Such a mess.

Dinner was unexpectedly good. I made a halfish recipes of Down by the Sea (Wraps, p61). The filling was lots of onions, softened in olive oil, then simmered with lemon juice, champagne vinegar (not—regular white wine vinegar did the job), and dried tarragon. This is mixed with chunks of grilled swordfish, chopped arugula, and chopped black olives. Wrapped in lavash tonight because there were some to use up. Very yummy.

Thursday/29-Dec-16: Dinner was a kind of polenta lasagna from Time-Life. Very delicious. Served with a salad. That was enough.

Friday/30-Dec-16: In the afternoon, I roasted some eggplants to use tomorrow.

Friends invited us for apèros this afternoon, so we had are rather small dinner. There was an Italian steak accompanied by some peas with shallots and some crozets mixed garlic butter-olive oil. That was all.

Saturday/31-Dec-16: Spend most of the day in the kitchen today.

• Started yogurt, thinking I might use much of what's in the fridge to make tzatziki (but didn't in the end).
• Used the roasted eggplants to make Baba Ghanoush (WofE, p334) for serving with veggies this evening.
• Started the rabbit dish for tomorrow's meal. Left it in nature's refrigerator overnight.
• For lunch, sautéed some onion, garlic, and leftover shiitakes, plopped this on slices of bread, topped with some blue cheese, and toasted to melt the cheese. Yum.
• Stuffed two mini peppers in the fridge with a little filling of cream cheese, chives, onion flakes, black pepper.

Dinner was a half recipe of Scallop Sauce with Olive Oil, Garlic, and Hot Pepper (ClassicItal, p185). I've made this before on new year's eve. It's good. Then a salad. 

For our late-night munchies with had the baba ghanoush with carrots, cukes, and radishes, along with the stuffed mini pepper. Looked like a lot, but we ate all of the veggies; didn't quite finish the dip.

Sunday/1-Jan-16: Dinner was delicious. Rabbit Ragu with Pappardelle (Essential, p352). Made a full recipe and froze about half. Served over some wide tagliatelle, home-made!, but not wide enough to call it pappardelle. Then a salad. That was all

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #3 PASTA: no for December; yes for January; #4 BREAD: no; #5 FotW: yes for November/December

This week in the kitchen

Monday/3-Oct-16: Put up the latest batch of tomato purée. Now a brief pause before picking more.

Hamburger time tonight. Ed was supposed to barbecue this evening, but he hurt his back falling off a ladder and didn't feel like it, so I grilled them on the stove. Very lean ground beef mixed with a shot of soy sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, and a dash of cayenne. Pretty good, although I cooked them a bit long. Served with the leftover lentil salad, still good. Also grilled a zucchini cut in thick slices and sprinkled with a Moroccan spice mix, with a sauce of crème fraîche and minced garlic. Mini magnums for after.

Tuesday/4-Oct-16: Dinner was Fattoush—Levantine Bread Salad (PatSalads, p72). Picked two tomatoes from the potager to use. Instead of pita breads, I used some lavash. I rather like that and have bought it twice now. I see I forgot to add the cucumber, but it was still a yummy salad. Some bit of cooked meat (chicken?) might be nice too, or maybe feta.

For dessert, there was Apple Crisp (BeatThis, p13; cookbooker). Having had a look through this book, I'm going to put it in the recycle box. Too many recipes using canned soup, etc. But I saw this and gave it a try. I made it with frozen raspberries and grannies, half and half. Very good, with a splash of cream. Have put the recipe in my HandyBook, since a quick and easy sort of dessert is always useful.

Wednesday/5-Oct-16: Shopping today. The enlargement mess and noise continues to be very unpleasant.

I bought a bit of blue cheese today (St Agur) just for a lark, and, as we returned home, I noticed lots of ripe figs on our neighbor's tree. I went and picked four for us. For a starter, I halved these lengthwise, crumbled a bit of blue cheese and dribbled a bit of honey onto each, popped them in the oven for a few minutes, then served topped with chopped walnuts. Yum. Even Ed liked them.

Our main was salmon (cookbooker) from my latest book for Cookbook Countdown. Served with some trio rice. Followed by a simple salad. We didn't feel a need for dessert (but we did have some square of chocolate later). We might finish the apple-raspberry crisp for breakfast tomorrow.

My attempts at making a yummy fig jam haven't been very successful. We're currently eating a really good fig-walnut jam that I picked up at a market somewhere. I'm tempted to pick a basketful and try again. We might have some of last year's walnuts still in the freezer. (It looks like this year will be a pretty poor crop unfortunately.)

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/6-Oct-16: Ed has asked for more beefy things, so tonight there was boudin noir again. Not really beefy, but high in protein for his hemoglobin.

During the day I made up some Carrot and Ginger Quickie Pickle (MC; Scraps, p82; web).

We had Black Pudding in Pastry with Mustard Sauce (Diaries2, p146), kind of sausage rolls, but with black puddings. The recipe asks morcilla, which I have seen at Leclerc, but not this week, so I got regular boudin noir, locally made. I used a package of four squares of pâte feuilleté, rolling two square out to a rectangle that enclosed the boudins on a bed of onions. Pretty good, but doesn't need to be made again. Served with some steamed broccoli, and some apple chunks that I sautéed in the onion pan. Also made some Radish and Sour Cream Salad (TLMidEast, p87), but we were too full to eat it.

Friday/7-Oct-16: Picked some more tomatoes today, just enough for dinner and a few extra. Finally made Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter (ClassItal, p152). Had an idea to serve it with fresh pasta, but didn't have time in the end, and she doesn't recommend it, except for potato gnocchi, which I definitely wouldn't make. I neglected to peel the tomatoes, which was a shame, so I buzzed them a bit (not quite enough) with my stick blender. Looks chef-boyardee-ish, but tastes much better. Froze half for later use.

Saturday/8-Oct-16: Had our main meal early today so we can go out this evening. We had West Indies Salmon Cakes (MC; web). Yummy and three more frozen for another meal. Served with turmeric rice, loosely based on something from the web, the Carrot and Ginger Quickie Pickle that I made earlier in the week, and Pan-Grilled Zucchini (MJ@Home, p173). All yummy. Had some mini magnums for dessert.

Sunday/9-Oct-16: Home late last night, and up late this morning. We went to a concert in the afternoon. I had planned to cook dinner, but really didn't feel like it. So we went out for pizza instead.

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 4
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 BREAD: no; #5 FotW: no for Oct/Nov

This week in the kitchen

Monday/19-Oct-15: This was clear-out-the-fridge night, preparation for leaving on Thursday. For dinner we had lots of orzo, accompanied by:

• Green Bean Salad (ClassicItal, p557). A really nice, simple way to do green beans. Should be done at the last minute or so that the beans can be kept warm till serving.
• Zucchini with Tomato and Basil (ClassicItal, p534). A bit of clock-time, but easy to do and not demanding. Having no parsley, I sprinkled in some dried Italian herbs. Good stuff.
• Roasted Eggplant with Peppers and Cucumber (ClassicItal, p55). I've made this a number of times. It's still good.

Tuesday/20-Oct-15: Lunch was a take-off on Medaglioni de Melazane—Aubergine Medallions (VegCarlu, p202). No tomato purée, wrong cheese, still good. Chopped up some tomatoes (seeded, of course) and cooked till soft, then stirred in the last of the basil we brought along. Sauté slices of eggplant. Top with (pesto, not), tomato sauce, cheddar slices, and some grated Parmesan. Into the oven till the cheese was melted.

Had a super dinner out. Fixed menu, first time we've seen that in Italy. Soup, pasta, two mains (lamb and chicken), and dessert. Good and not all that expensive.

Wednesday/21-Oct-15: For lunch, I started out to make an egg and zucchini thing from VegCarlu, but it turned into a clear-out-the-fridge scramble-up. Red onion, the end of a salami, a bit of red bell pepper, the last zucchini, two little tomatoes, topped with eggs. Yum. Hope we have room for dinner tonight.

Nice dinner out at our favorite restaurant in Radicondoli.

Thursday/22-Oct-15: Checked out. Drove to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower and the Duomo. Then to Lucca. Walked 11,000+ steps today. Feet are tired. Lovely dinner out.

Friday/23-Oct-15: Walked almost 10,000 steps. Whew. Another nice dinner out.

Saturday/24-Oct-15: Drove all the way to the Vercors without an overnight stop.

Sunday/25-Oct-15: Day in the Vercors.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 UNUSED: no; #3 GRAINS: no; #4 VEG/FISH: 1
This month: #5 PASTA: no; #6 BREAD: no; #7 FotW: no for September/October

This week in the kitchen

Monday/12-Oct-15: Ate at another restaurant tonight. Good pasta; meat overcooked. Friendly place. We are astounded at the number of Americans in town. There were at least ten eating dinner at this restaurant, plus a Brit couple.

Tuesday/13-Oct-15: Picked the chicken. Made stock.

Dinner was a take-off on Chicken Fricassee, Cacciatora Style (ClassicItal, p330) served with fusilli. Instead of using pieces of raw chicken, I used most of the cooked meat I took from the roast chicken. Good it was. With a salad.

Wednesday/14-Oct-15: Bit of shopping this afternoon for bread and other supplies

Dinner was, more or less, Orecchiette con Broccoli (VegCarlu, p54). The pasta was fusilli instead or orecchiette, but it was still good. Easy stuff. And a salad. then we finished off the chocolate gelato.

Thursday/15-Oct-15: Dinner out.

Friday/16-Oct-15: Went to the market at Colle de Val d'Elsa. The non-food stuff was starting to close up as we got there, but we found one of the small ladles with holes, which turns out to be great for checking if pasta is cooked and probably works with beans too.

Watched a movie. Got too late to cook. Pizza for dinner.

Saturday/17-Oct-15: For dinner there was ravioli filled with nettle and Parmesan a la panna, cooked then finished off in cream. Yesterday at the market I bought a head of any unknown green, which we think might be chicory, the real stuff rather than the one that's also called Belgian endive or witlof. Used it to make a non-mixed version of Mixed Greens with Black Olives (Verdura, p321). (This is only the third recipe I've noted from Verdura, so I'll call this an unused book.) I boiled the greens till well-wilted, but later found by taste and research they should  have been cooked longer, so the dish was a bit strong. But still an interesting way to cook greens.

Sunday/18-Oct-15: As I was putting up dishes this morning, a small glass bowl exploded when I tapped its edge against the stack I was adding it to. Never had that kind of thing happen before. So much for not breaking anything.

For lunch I made chicken noodle soup with the rest of the stock, a bit of leftover chicken, a sliced carrot, and some orzo.

Dinner out, so that was all in the kitchen.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 UNUSED: yes; #3 GRAINS: no; #4 VEG/FISH: 2
This month: #5 PASTA: no; #6 BREAD: no; #7 FotW: no for September/October

This week in the kitchen

Monday/25-May-15: Used the amarone wine we bought in NL a couple of years ago to make Pot Roast of Beef Braised in Amarone Wine (ClassItal, p395). Pretty good pot roast, although the chunk of meat I got (what was it?) didn't have much marbling, so the meat was a trifle dry, if tasty. Served with Sautéed Broccoli with Olive Oil and Garlic (ClassItal, p477), which is pretty much how I make it if I go beyond steaming. And some polenta. We started with some ostrich rillettes and duck pâté from jars, drinking a bottle of Monbazillac that Bill got last week. It's surprising to me how a sweet white wine goes with this kind of thing. For after, there was cheese. I'm full.

Tuesday/26-May-15: Terry came to dinner this evening. For our apèro, we worked on the ostrich and duck pâtés along with a pâté de campagne fait à maison from the butcher. For a starter we had charentaise melon with pineau. For the main there was Grilled Pork Chops with Green Apple-Chipotle Salsa (BigFlav, p156; cookbooker). The salsa was really scrumptious. All-Purpose Rice and Beans (BigFlav, p262) as a go-with. Store-bought tarts for dessert, two gateaux basques and two pear-almond tartlettes.

Wednesday/27-May-15: We had lunch out with Bill before taking him to the train station then going on to shopping. Only some fruit and a few munchies for dinner,

Thursday/28-May-15: This morning the balloon guy called. It will be too windy tomorrow so our trip is postponed.

I didn't buy fish yesterday, since I'd had both salmon and lieu noir for lunch. Instead we had two kip filets done up as a half dose of Chicken in a Cream Parmesan and Sundried Tomato Sauce (web), seriouly yummy, with trio rice on the side. Then a big salad. For after we finished off two bits of cheese.

Friday/29-May-15: Caribbean night tonight. There was a half recipe of Camarones a la Criolla—Shrimp in Spicy Tomato Sauce (TLCarib, p24) served with rice and Concombres en Salade—Cucumber Salad (TLCarib, p24).The shrimp dish was easy and tasty, not divine but quite good enough. The cuke salad is very similar to one I make from a Thai cookbook, but with lime juice instead of white vinegar. Spicy!

For after there was Bolo di Rum—Rum Cake (TLCarib, p109) with vanilla ice cream. I've made this cake before. It seemed to me to taste more of lime this time, but maybe I misremember. I used the cuisinart for all the mixing, which make it really easy. We both like the gritty cornmeal texture with the soft cake. I used only 3/4cup of sugar (sucre de canne).

Saturday/30-May-15: Dinner was Kaye's Shrimp-Stuffed Eggplant (MC), which is a recipe from somewhere that I've modified enough to call my own. Served with brown rice and a little carrot salad with lemon vinaigrette.

Sunday/31-May-15: Leftover night. Some black bean and smoked sausage soup from the freezer mixed with leftover black beans and rice from Tuesday, with an ice cube of chile-soaking liquid tossed in for extra flavor. Very yummy. That was all.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 UNUSED: no; #3 GRAINS: yes; #4 VEG/FISH: 2
This month: #5 PASTA: no; #6 BREAD: no; #7 FotW: yes for May

This week in the kitchen

Monday/13-Apr-15: Just last week, didn't I say to Ed, Looks like we've missed the plague of flies this year. Spoke too soon. They're swarming in the bedroom today, enjoying the warm and sunny weather.

Starting work on last year's taxes, with the idea of doing them all in one go. We'll see.

Still haven't finished reading last month's Time-Life book (Japan), so adding a month to that book and moving the rest out a month. The next is the Caribbean one, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Dinner was Grilled Chicken with Lemons and Couscous (Diaries, p258), first bbq. Easy and pretty tasty. Whole wheat coucous again, not very good planning. We split a magnum classic for dessert.

Tuesday/14-Apr-15: Still sorting tax papers and scanning stuff I've never done over the last year. Ugh.

Tonight was use-up-the-asparagus night, with a half recipe of Linguine with Asparagus and Egg (PastaHarv, p46), very good, kind of a pasta carbonara with asparagus instead of lardons or bacon. I was looking for something in a seldom used book, but didn't succeed. Then a big salad. Then some Soupe Épicée au Chocolate (VPG). I used the wrong chocolate (90%, which needed a bit of powdered sugar added), and just realize that I used 30dl of cream instead of 30cl. No wonder I had to add more and it never got soupy. Oh well, it tasted fine.

Wednesday/15-Apr-15: Yogurt on overday. Shopping after my ENT appointment.

Dinner was supposed to be small and fast, but ended up more elaborate, as these things do. First I made some Prune and Almond Brownies (web), which turned out pretty good, but the recipe is weird. (The original is from Delia Smith, here.) The prunes should have been soaked in armangac; the almonds should have been toasted; both would have been nice. The recipe calls for 330g of sugar. I stopped at 200g, which was fine. Later I saw Delia asks for 225g, which would probably have been ok. Skipping the soaking and the nut toasting made it pretty easy.

Then I made some Crispy Lemon Roasted Baby Artichokes (web), which didn't really work that well. I've never seen anything called baby artichokes here, but there were some very small globe artichokes on sale. So I got two and followed instructions. Not quite as nice I thought they should have been and they could have used another 10 minutes or so in the oven. I made a little sauce with mayo from a jar and some finely minced preserved lemon. That was pretty good.

Then I made a half recipe of Crushed Spiced Carrot Salad (Morocco, p78), which I've made before and we like alot.

This was all to go with a half recipe of Salmon Fishcakes with Garam Masala, Chilli, and Ginger (web), using panko instead of the popped amaranth seeds. Good stuff this. I seem to have been making lots of tasty fishcakes of late. This one was a bit tedious because the recipe called for hand mincing the salmon. Probably the food processor would have worked fine.

Anyhow, all was good, if more work than I intended.

Thursday/16-Apr-15: What a day. Got a good start this morning, hoping to make a major dent in getting our French and US taxes done. Only to discover that one of our accounts had gone haywire in Moneydance. Latest good copy was dated the 12th. And of course I've done lots of work since then getting started on the taxes and just general life. Can't figure out if it was something I did wrong, but not going to waste any more time on it. Have reentered as much as possible and will pick up again tomorrow.

Dinner was fun. Half recipes of Chicken Lettuce Wraps (web) and Jamie Oliver's Broccoli with Asian Dressing (web). Both were really easy, fast, and tasty. Some of the prune brownies for dessert, topped with a good slog of cream. Yum.

Friday/17-Apr-15: Dinner at Café Lombok (Indonesian buffet) before No Direction played. Nothing much happened in our kitchen except for yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/18-Apr-15: Lunch with friends today. Popcorn for dinner. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Sunday/19-Apr-15: Dinner was Frittata with Asparagus (ClassicItal, p283), using only four eggs. Good stuff. We ate about two thirds of it. Then a big salad. Then some mini magnums.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: yes/no; #2 UNUSED: no; #3 GRAINS: yes; #4 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #5 PASTA: no; #6 BREAD: no; #7 FotW: no for March/April